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News & Current Events May 7, 2026 at 4:32 PM

Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says

Posted by aadsarraficionado

Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says
www.bbc.com
Hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship not start of pandemic, UN health agency says
Ther World Health Organization says it is not in the same situation as with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads differently.
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sirhackenslash May 7, 2026 +754
Sounds like something a pandemic would say
754
k4kkul4pio May 8, 2026 +83
Yeah, this feels too familiar. 😒
83
ArenjiTheLootGod May 8, 2026 +28
Ngl, I think we as a society might have some collective PTSD from the Covid years and having the same brain dead bunch in charge that let it spiral out of control last time is not exactly reassuring. Maybe it's nothing, maybe it's not, all I know is that me moving to the countryside to become a remote work forest hermit is feeling like a better idea every passing day.
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Knight-Peace May 9, 2026 +2
This time the team is worse 😬
2
ebmx May 9, 2026 +2
You're not reassured by the quality of leadership that RFK Jr has shown? You're not easily impressed.
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critically_damped May 8, 2026 +10
It will probably turn out to be true. The pandemic likely started *before* the cruise ship, so it would in fact be false to say that this was the start of it.
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HanlonsRazor_ May 7, 2026 +2735
Didn't they say the same thing about Covid?
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NotAnotherEmpire May 7, 2026 +1126
Yes and it was ridiculous. China responded with their bird flu contingency plan, they absolutely believed there was a chance it would / already had escaped Wuhan
1126
jackp0t789 May 7, 2026 +543
If wastewater testing results are too believed, it had likely already spread outside of Wuhan by the time it was first detected in Wuhan.
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NotAnotherEmpire May 7, 2026 +340
Early COVID had an incubation period mean of 7-10 days and transmitted during it. The fuse for the epidemic in Wuhan was lit weeks before it became obvious. I remember Dr. Osterholm (pandemic expert) giving an interview that if this incubation period and low/no symptom transmission was accurate, the virus was out of the cordon before it was established and it was already over. 
340
DubiousAdviceGiver May 7, 2026 +286
I’ve played enough Plague, Inc. to know that this is almost certainly accurate. That’s how you win. Start out super contagious with benign/no symptoms, *then* kill everyone.
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NemeanMiniLion May 7, 2026 +179
Ok, it's everywhere. Now let's add.... Hemorrhagic fever, water transmission, antibiotic resistance. I used to name the viruses after my friends and then send them the final report lol. Just for fun. "Derek has killed the world!"
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DubiousAdviceGiver May 7, 2026 +46
I’d name them things like, “Your nasty crotch virus,” “Your mother’s farts,” “Greg’s breath,” etc.
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Ok-Lion1661 May 7, 2026 +18
I use my wife’s name, she is not amused when I do this.
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SnooPears1505 May 8, 2026 +5
add projectile vomiting , upgrade transmission vectors, after everyone is infected. refund transmission and get paralysis, multi organ failure , coma and beain death.
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[deleted] May 7, 2026 +6
[deleted]
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AlinaStari May 7, 2026 +16
Yep, the less deadly a virus is, the better chance it has to spread. For viruses, there is a balance between causing symptoms to increase spread (coughing, diarrhea, etc.) and keeping your host well-enough to go out into the world to increase spread. However, I think that it is important to remember that mutations occur randomly and there is absolutely nothing to stop the common cold from suddenly developing the bleeding-from-your eyeballs symptom that ebola gives you, even if it means you die faster, because viruses don't actually make choices. Likewise, a strain of ebola may randomly mutate to be able to survive while arbourne and have an incubation period of 6 months. Then, a year later, humanity is wiped out and ebola along with us. But ebola doesn't care because it didn't plan ahead because it doesn't make choices. Just something fun to think about :)
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Smart_Elevator May 7, 2026 +2
Well that's actually not true. For example, smallpox.
2
Difficult_Affect_452 May 8, 2026 +8
I am also period mean for 7-10 days. Each month.
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Preface May 8, 2026 +35
Guys, China told us its not a pandemic don't worry about it! *China seen shutting down all internal travel and welding people into their houses*
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Meattyloaf May 7, 2026 +71
I mean China was also covering up the details of Covid hard. If you were following the media closely doctors were trying to warn the public several months in advance. I remember reading the first reports trickling out of China from doctors around Thanksgiving 2019. Which also around the same time that the first suspected cases started to pop up in the U.S... Hantavirus doesn't spread as effectively and seems for the most part that it can be traced back to the cruise ship making tracing overall much easier.
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Rich_Housing971 May 7, 2026 +7
>I remember reading the first reports trickling out of China from doctors around Thanksgiving 2019. No you didn't. there weren't any reports in Thanksgiving. Stop spreading COVID misinformation. The cases back in November were traced back months after the virus was identified. They weren't covering it up hard. It was just novel and no one knew anything about it.
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Meattyloaf May 7, 2026 +63
There absolutely were trickling coming out of China around Thanksgiving 2019. The American cases were traced back. However, there were reports coming out of China about some unknown respiratory virus that was spreading fast.
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KilowogTrout May 7, 2026 +23
CDC says December 12 was when it first came to attention. https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html
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Meattyloaf May 8, 2026 +9
And we now know there were cases as early as Thanksgiving 2019 in the U.S. of that year. These weren't coming out via official media releases. China was suppressing Covid hard till they realized they had alrwady lost containment.
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KilowogTrout May 8, 2026 +14
Right, it was already here by then. But the commenter above was disputing your claim that News was trickling out of China around Thanksgiving. That’s not my memory, and I looked for some articles from that time. Couldn’t find any, but this CDC timeline puts it at December.
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Rich_Housing971 May 8, 2026 +2
You're not posting the reports because you're bullshitting or you have a bad memory.
2
Meattyloaf May 8, 2026 +2
I mean you can do some research, the fact that this camme out on unofficial channels at the time makes it difficult to track down said sources over 6 years later. I get that some listnookors have this belief that they are never wrong and all knowing, but this is not it. Official reports came out in late December 2019 when the Chinese government could no longer keep quite about it. However, as stated there were trickling of information coming out before hand that was not being reported on by major news sources and in some cases being spread via social media. Some of the first inkling that something big could be brewing started in November. The fact that cases have been retroactively tracked in the U.S. to Thanksgiving of that year proves that this was around prior to the official timeline.
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SpiderSlitScrotums May 7, 2026 +166
No. I’ve been following virology since the original SARS outbreak in 2002. Virologists were very apprehensive when it was determined that another SARS coronavirus was responsible. The speed of the response was far, far faster than anything in history. The vaccine was already developed in about a month (it took a year to be released only due to clinical trials).
166
Dotcaprachiappa May 7, 2026 +90
Shush we need people to be untrustful of authority for some reason
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Affectionate_Neat868 May 7, 2026 +17
The WHO was publicly stating as late as January of 2020 that there was "no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission" of COVID 19.
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bdjohn06 May 7, 2026 +38
WHO wasn’t even notified of an outbreak by China until December 31, 2019. 2 weeks later they said human-to-human transmission was likely but wasn’t surprising because it’s a respiratory virus.
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Dotcaprachiappa May 8, 2026 +7
First of all, it was Jan 14th, not late January. Second of all, just four days later they said there *was* evidence of human to human transmission. This all less than a month since they even knew about the existence of COVID btw.
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ThaneKyrell May 7, 2026 +31
Yeah, because basically all scientists on the planet that work on vaccines basically stopped everything they were doing to exclusively make the Covid vaccine.
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BannedfromFrontPage May 7, 2026 +18
I know what you’re saying, but I also imagine a geologist raising their hands in the air like, “the f*** am I supposed to do?!? Why did you summon me?!?
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bigphatnips May 8, 2026 +2
What's the summoning ritual for geologists? Is it their favourite rock/mineral in the middle of a pentagram, and then you speak their true name? "Brian, we need you, there's a pandemic"
2
skinwill May 7, 2026 +320
Yes, but wasn’t china welding doors shut at the same time?
320
BangerSlapper1 May 7, 2026 +260
“Soon you’re going to see the number of cases go to zero. It’s gonna disappear.” - Some person, around 4 weeks into the COViD pandemic. 
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Meattyloaf May 7, 2026 +37
Remember his idea of making it go to zero was to stop testing for it.
37
Empty_glass_bottle May 7, 2026 +124
And lucky us, that same orange person is in charge again
124
Interesting-Type-908 May 7, 2026 +22
If that's the case, I'm investing in whatever funeral homes use for supplies and the makers of hand sanitizer. Your guns are useless if you're choking to death on *'the virus'*.
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External-Praline-451 May 7, 2026 +14
Refrigerated truck stock gonna 📈
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Pockydo May 7, 2026 +2
Which is clear proof this is the DEeP STaTe trying to hurt the new conservative Jesus!
2
peepee2tiny May 7, 2026 +29
2 weeks to flatten the curve!
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Weepinbellend01 May 7, 2026 +13
Do you wanna get banned? I lost a 2015 account this way.
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BurnieTheBrony May 7, 2026 +7
As long as we don't test for hantavirus, we won't have any cases!
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michaelmcmikey May 7, 2026 +183
Hantavirus spreads very differently than Covid. Covid was literally a novel virus, this is not. Hantavirus only spreads between humans with difficulty, requiring prolonged intimate exposure — think, sleeping in the same bed, kissing someone, etc. Covid is also contagious before symptoms present. You simply won’t catch hantavirus from briefly being in the same room as a human who has it. The number of times when a small disease outbreak has occurred and health officials have said “this is not the start of a pandemic” and been correct is a monumentally larger number than the times they were incorrect, which is once. Don’t be misled by selection bias.
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BurnieTheBrony May 7, 2026 +121
I mean I doubt the flight attendant that got it was kissing the sick passenger. That being said that doesn't mean it's automatically going to explode into a pandemic just because it's a new virus
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chikanishing May 7, 2026 +64
Has the flight attendant been confirmed yet? I was under the impression she had mild cold like symptoms and they were testing her to be safe.
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MrFunnie May 7, 2026 +32
Apparently has just been confirmed it’s not Hantavirus for the flight attendant. I just read it, but not sure if it was reputable.
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DrummingUpNumbers May 7, 2026 +42
The flight attendant is not confirmed to even have it yet and she escorted the literally dying person off the flight did she not? Feels close contact to me.
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nicuramar May 7, 2026 +8
It’s not confirmed that the flight attendant got it.
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Kaffe-Mumriken May 7, 2026 +6
On the other hand, which airline was this? Asking for a friend
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Multiversee May 7, 2026 +9
KLM, so not really a lowbudget airline...
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Kaffe-Mumriken May 7, 2026 +16
Booking tickets, wish me luck 💋 💋 💋
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dorkofthepolisci May 7, 2026 +3
Tbf both flights and cruise ships often involve people being in close contact with each other and poor ventilation. Even *if* there are cases of person to person contact among passengers that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s been a shift in the transmissibility of the virus
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JFeth May 7, 2026 +34
Being on a ship together seemed to be enough for this strain.
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xXBeefSquatch5KXx May 7, 2026 +19
Also being in an airplane with someone that was sick that went home from the cruise
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mrdude05 May 7, 2026 +33
The flight attendant isn't confirmed to be infected. She was hospitalized out of an abundance of caution because she was known to be in contact with a carrier, but the most likely possibility is still that it's nothing. There are only 7 confirmed infections and we're already past the point there people infected on the ship would become symptomatic. If it could spread that easily we would be seeing a lot more of them
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xXBeefSquatch5KXx May 7, 2026 +12
It’s got a long incubation period. I’m not saying this is going to be a Covid situation, but I am saying being cautious isn’t a bad thing either this type of stuff
12
wkavinsky May 7, 2026 +9
Also we won't know about the attendant for **weeks**. If it's moderately more transmissible than "intimate contact", and it's transmissible in the first month of infection (and those are big ifs), this has pandemic written all over it.
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ThellraAK May 8, 2026 +2
No we aren't, 8 weeks is the upper bound.
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AquaMoonCoffee May 7, 2026 +6
She's not been confirmed sick (with hantavirus), and on top of that 3 other sick individuals from the same flight have been tested and as of right now 2 of their tests have come back and both were negative meaning there were also just regularly sick people on that flight. We're still waiting on the hospitalized stewardess and 3rd individual tested results to come back.
6
peepee2tiny May 7, 2026 +55
\>Hantavirus only spreads between humans with difficulty, Historically. A slight mutation in an existing strain could make H2H transmission a newly acquired mutation and if it still retains it's long incubation period and mortality rate, we could be in for quite a ride. Add to that all the antivaxxers and government over reach people and we could be in for storm. Much likely scenario, this fizzles out into a wild real life story about 8 people that got sick on a cruise and half of them died.
55
CycleMother2006 May 7, 2026 +18
Even historically it's not that difficult. People are grasping at straws to try and say that it is because google tells them that. In reality it spreads through contact with feces or bodily fluids. Normally that's just from mice, but in this case it's humans or mice. That's how you get humans from six different groups (not associates or friends/family) on a single cruise all getting sick. The last outbreak recorded had one person getting a dozen others ill at a birthday party over the course of a couple hours. People make it seem like you need to be slobbering over someone, but in reality you just need to not wash your hands after taking a shit, or get a little spittle on them. This could easily be turned into a nothing story if it was handled well. But I don't have confidence in it being handled well. I hope to be pleasantly surprised though.
18
Sailor_Propane May 8, 2026 +8
Part of the reason why I'm cautious with this story, is the fact that on January 2020 the WHO said that COVID was only a close-contact transmission and wasn't worrisome. It took until ~July 2020 before they said it was transmitted through air as well.
8
Sex_And_Candy_Here May 8, 2026 +8
The WHO was wrong, but also using technical terms that make lay people think they were more wrong than they actually were. The WHO originally said it wasn’t airborne, meaning it only traveled in the air by aerosols, which can still stick around in the air for a while and travel a bit, just not quite as much as a true airborne virus. The reason they were wrong is that the difference between a true airborne virus and one that is limited to aerosols is actually not as large as you would expect, making it hard to test during the start of a pandemic of a novel pathogen.
8
CycleMother2006 May 8, 2026 +5
Agreed. They always seem to downplay these things to avoid panic until they can't downplay them anymore. If we instead overreacted to outbreaks and assumed the worst case scenario until we knew for certain otherwise, I feel like we'd ensure nothing ever gained a pandemic level foothold again. Telling people, "Don't worry it only spreads through this impossible scenario" just encourages people to go, "Oh I can go to work despite having a fever because as long as I don't swap spit with anyone I won't spread it!"
5
[deleted] May 7, 2026 +8
[deleted]
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peepee2tiny May 7, 2026 +3
No one said anything about airborne except you? Lets not jump to your predetermined conclusions and then hold others to account on your conclusion. And the Andes Virus already HAS H2H transmission, but it's not super effective, now a slight mutation in the efficacy of that transmission IS a possibility.
3
Tury345 May 7, 2026 +3
I'd actually take it a step further and say COVID had SARS as a precedent in the sense that a novel coronavirus was known to be terrifying. A novel hantavirus that spreads anywhere near as effectively as covid did would be far more surprising Meanwhile a better analog might be those Ebola outbreaks that, while heartbreaking and tragic for individuals and families, were not globally disruptive events If another global pandemic erupts it will almost certainly come from either an entirely new category of virus or one that was previously known to spread rapidly
3
parakeetweet May 8, 2026 +4
the sweating sickness pandemic which hit england in the ~1500's is theorized to have been a hantavirus because the symptoms overlapped w/ old world hantaviruses (renal syndrome). and it killed something like 15,000 people in london within a couple of months, which was a pretty significant portion of london at the time. not saying that's what it is or fearmongering. this will likely fizzle out of the news cycle like other hemorrhagic fever scares. but it's not unheard of, regarding hantavirus speculation.
4
jackp0t789 May 7, 2026 +19
They were saying this after covid already spread to all continents and infected hundreds of thousands and killed thousands... This Hantavirus outbreak has only infected (confirmed cases) a total of seven people total.
19
paxweasley May 7, 2026 +9
This is more like, deadlier small pox but less transmissible. If it did ever go pandemic level it would be civilization ending. So… Kind of like the super volcano at Yellowstone. It’s either gonna end the world or nothing will come of it. No need to worry :)
9
Meattyloaf May 7, 2026 +13
Ah, it wouldn't be civilization ending. Civilization survived the Bubonic plague which killed upwards of 60% of the population in Europe dying and something like 20% of the world's population. It was just more so a reset and the last time the global human population seen a decline.
13
wkavinsky May 7, 2026 +15
I will note that the fastest ever rise in living standards and labour rights happened after the Black Death. And the Spanish flu in 1917, come to think about it. You know, fringe benefits if you don't die.
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TotoCocoAndBeaks May 7, 2026 +5
There are hundreds of thousands of cases of hantavirus infection each year. This is just scary because its on a ship.
5
Spaghett8 May 7, 2026 +7
In Asia and Europe. Old world Hantevirus has a mortality rate of 1-10% depending on the strain. New world Hantevirus like the North American Sin Nombre Virus and the South American Andes virus are highly lethal at around 35%-50% mortality. There are only around 30~ cases and a bit over 10 deaths in the US due to SNV each year. The North American SNV variant is not contagious. The SA Andes virus is contagious and is the variant present on the cruise ship. It’s nowhere near as transmittable as SARS COV-2 (2019).
7
TeaSharp3154 May 8, 2026 +3
The lethality and severity may actually limit the spread. Much easier to identify and quarantine an exposure who is symptomatic rather than someone who is asymptomatic. Much more awful for those unlucky enough to be infected though.
3
MetalBawx May 7, 2026 +11
Different situation, Chinese government clamped down on all communcations and WHO parroted the CPC's PR statements that the Corona virus was successfully quarantined in Wuhan for two weeks even after "unknown sickness" reports started springing up all across SE Asia. In this case it's both more and less, they know who got on that cruise ship the problem is they're not exactly sure when they were infected due to how long the incubation period is. This is made worse by the fact Hantavirus is infectious before that incubation period expires.
11
Zdos123 May 7, 2026 +13
>Hantavirus is infectious before that incubation period expires. Nowhere states this, hantavirus is likely NOT infectious until symptoms start.
13
xXBeefSquatch5KXx May 7, 2026 +7
They also let people off the ship and they traveled, while super sick, one being pulled from an airplane after boarding dying shortly after. Contact tracing that many people will be super difficult
7
spottie_ottie May 7, 2026 +260
I'm going to start sweating when we have a confirmed case not in South America of someone that wasn't on the boat. If an airline passenger gets it / flight attendant I give myself permission to get nervous. For now seems like a possible nothingburger.
260
shepherdofthesheeple May 7, 2026 +178
That already happened lol, flight attendant is in the hospital currently after exposure to patient zeros wife. She was removed from the plane for being sick
178
mintardent May 7, 2026 +114
FA hasn’t been confirmed to have it at all though
114
spottie_ottie May 7, 2026 +130
It didn't already happen though. People get sick for a lot of reasons, when it's confirmed to be hantavirus I start sweating. As of now: "She is currently being tested for the hantavirus" - [https://nltimes.nl/2026/05/07/klm-flight-attendant-hospitalized-contact-hantavirus-cruise-ship-passenger](https://nltimes.nl/2026/05/07/klm-flight-attendant-hospitalized-contact-hantavirus-cruise-ship-passenger)
130
aaaaaaaarrrrrgh May 7, 2026 +19
100% correct as of now, but at the same time, unless I hear a confirmation that she is negative in the next 24h, I'm assuming they just don't want to openly lie but also don't want to admit a positive result.
19
beeonkah May 8, 2026 +12
last update i saw was that she tested negative to pcr and antibody
12
spottie_ottie May 7, 2026 +21
I kind of assume the opposite, depending on who 'they' are. If 'they' is the media, they absolutely will not want to report a negative test, because that's not interesting. People are panicking and reloading the news and seeing all those wonderful ads hoping to find more information. If the update is 'maybe things are ok' well that doesn't lead to an information seeking frenzy. Which 'they' would bury a positive result that was fine with sharing that a person was being tested? Why would 'they' benefit from that?
21
aaaaaaaarrrrrgh May 7, 2026 +13
Governments that think that sacrificing their credibility for delaying panic is a great deal. Which, judging by COVID behavior, is most of them.
13
spottie_ottie May 7, 2026 +2
It seems like if suppressing the info to delay panic is an option you wouldn't have released that people are being tested, right? That creates the panic almost as much as a confirmed case, just like saying 'XXX politician is under investigation for fraud', in most people's minds they're guilty of fraud.
2
aaaaaaaarrrrrgh May 7, 2026 +5
In theory, yes. In practice, hiding one might be harder than the other, mostly because the news of one might get out before you can prepare a "proper" response while the test results will be *very* closely guarded. And just because something is stupid or won't work longer than 24 hours unfortunately hasn't stopped governments in the past.
5
exhibitprogram May 8, 2026 +3
I have really great news for you, she tested negative.
3
Zdos123 May 7, 2026 +46
The flight attendant is in hosptial with mild symptoms, not confirmed to be hantavirus, she probably just has a cold or flu.
46
bluepie May 7, 2026 +28
no one has confirmed the flight attendant has Hantavirus
28
[deleted] May 7, 2026 +217
[deleted]
217
BasicMatter7339 May 7, 2026 +119
we're getting news every few hours because people click on those articles more and it generates the agencies more money. The amount of coverage isn't necessarily comparable to how serious a situation is.
119
Propeller3 May 7, 2026 +8
I am already sick of hearing about this every hour. It is not a big deal and not worth this fuss.
8
BasicMatter7339 May 7, 2026 +13
It needs to be taken seriously, as it is being done, but all of this fearmongering is just completely unnecessary
13
mrekted May 7, 2026 +5
I'm taking it about as seriously as the last 3 outbreaks of this strain in the last 10 years.. which I didn't even know about until this outbreak.
5
Eatpineapplerightnow May 7, 2026 +5
We are getting *new information* every few hours. Just because click-bait exits, dosent mean everything is.
5
BasicMatter7339 May 7, 2026 +20
Most of the _new information_ is just different news outlets regurgitating old information from each other and calling it news.
20
freedombuckO5 May 7, 2026 +4
They aren’t certain. They just don’t want people to panic, so they’re trying to control the narrative.
4
TheNicestRedditor May 7, 2026
Yeah in 6 weeks is should all be gone right? Surely if it spread to the flight attendant it wouldn’t have spread to anyone else 😂
0
frugaleringenieur May 7, 2026 +673
These kind of statements have again and again proven wrong, so they make me more nervous than not putting it out.
673
[deleted] May 7, 2026 +316
[deleted]
316
ZaheerUchiha May 7, 2026 +207
Yeah this is the key. I find it very hard to believe this virus randomly evolved in a cruise. If this is a new more virulent mutation, there would be a shitstorm in Argentina right now.
207
ThunderChaser May 7, 2026 +94
Also by this point if it was as infectious as people on Listnook act like it is, half the cruise ship would’ve been infected if not dead by now. Instead there’s been a grand total of 8 confirmed cases, with 3 more suspected cases.
94
Rayl24 May 8, 2026 +7
Let's wait 2 more weeks before confirming anything
7
Shaq_Bolton May 7, 2026 -9
I honestly feel covid was the highlight of half of listnooks lives, that’s why they start wanting shut downs every time someone catches bird flu, the word Ebola is heard or now Hantavirus. They didn’t have to leave the house, or be social, got a bunch of money from the government. Plus they got to look down on everyone who dared leave the house and pretend their preferred anti-social behavior made them morally superior.
-9
Alarming_Ad_201 May 7, 2026 +37
Not everyone tracking this and comparing it to COVID wants a shutdownl lol. I have legit fears of this happening again because my life was destroyed because of shutdown and I know others share the same fears.
37
ruinersclub May 7, 2026 +8
That’s proper procedure though. Before Covid we would shut down ports for Bird Flu, Swine Flu outbreaks.
8
AdLocal1490 May 7, 2026 +14
/u/shaq_bolton is a culture warrior. This is all he has going for him. Leave him be
14
ruinersclub May 7, 2026 +5
I figure but random posters should also know that we shut down regularly. Maybe because I’m in CA, landlocked states didn’t pay attention.
5
sf_sf_sf May 7, 2026 +31
While I agree with you, many/most spillover events start with a single person. Whether it catches on depends on the conditions and travel of that person. Spillover in a remote village. No pandemic. Spillover involving ab  airliner. Oh boy.  This could be a spillover of a new variant that acts differently much like the recent mpox breakouts. 
31
[deleted] May 7, 2026 +33
[deleted]
33
-drunk_russian- May 8, 2026 +2
>EDIT: I just looked it up, the "remote village" is a city with a population of over 82,000 Lol 'muricans and geography. Ushuaia is a lovely city and a relatively popular tourism destination as the southernmost city in the world.
2
MPLS_Poppy May 7, 2026 +14
Yeah, the numbers would be jumping way way faster than they are. We would be seeing an exponential rise in cases. Not just a few every couple of days. Especially because they were on a *cruise ship*. If anyone has ever been on a cruise ship during a norovirus outbreak, as I unfortunately have, you’d know how quickly anything spreads in that environment. You go from eating by the pool to them handing you individual salt packets wearing gloves only in the one dining room you’re allowed to eat in. If this was as contagious and deadly as everyone here thinks then hundreds would be sick by now. And thousands tomorrow. But fear mongering is sexier than understanding how hard it is for some things to spread even in optimal conditions.
14
DrummingUpNumbers May 7, 2026 +33
Wrong again and again? I'm sorry, did SARS, swine flu, monkey pox, ebola outbreaks, hantavirus outbreaks (same strain) all turn into pandemics? No. Edit: I should say major pandemic like Covid-19 etc. because some were technically classed as pandemics.
33
Viciousspacepebbles May 7, 2026 +42
There has been what, 5-6 actual pandemics in the last 100 years. Other than the Spanish Flu, AIDS and Covid they have all been relatively minor. So, I find it a bit of a stretch to say that they have "again and again proven wrong". In fact, id say the opposite.
42
chillermane May 8, 2026 +5
Bro stop offending their narrative that’s not based on any data or even anyone’s real lived experience
5
TheDwarvenGuy May 7, 2026 +12
You only remember the ones that were proven wrong, all of the ones that were proven right didn't lead to anything
12
bluepie May 7, 2026 +26
again and again? its happened once
26
Zzzzyxas May 7, 2026 +20
They have also proven right. Which one is this time, who f****** knows.
20
hovdeisfunny May 7, 2026 +4
Odds are that it's right, but I'm sure none of us feel that way
4
Pretend_Mango5529 May 7, 2026 +21
Ikr. Like yea there’s a good chance it ends up being a nothing burger but this shit show literally just started.
21
swedishplayer97 May 7, 2026 +73
It started 6 weeks ago, likely earlier. Only 5 people on the cruise ship are confirmed cases. Median incubation period is 18 days. We should've seen way more cases on the ship by now.
73
End3rWi99in May 7, 2026 +136
No shit. Don't tell doomers on Listnook though. I swear some people here are actually rooting for another pandemic.
136
fightmaxmaster May 7, 2026 +78
I have no idea why the irrational panic annoys me so much, but it does. Ignorance, probably - people applying the wrong lessons from history and not bothering to look stuff up. I was listening to a very old episode of The Bugle recently, that was made during the ebola outbreak in 2014, and they were decrying the hysteria then, despite the objectively limited impact. It's just the media being desperate for engagement. Covid was **new**, so fine, maybe some downplayed it, underestimated it, made mistakes, whatever. Hantavirus *isn't*. There are plenty of cases every year. This is something that sucks for those affected, of course, it's not nothing, but it's not going to explode into a global pandemic, because that's just not what this virus does, **and we know that.**
78
conanap May 8, 2026 +11
Tbh I just want wfh (I’m kidding I’d rather people not die)
11
Sailor_Propane May 8, 2026 +10
Personally, it's the fact I didn't take COVID seriously and told people to stop fear mongering in January 2020. In early March 2020, I risked both my grandma's health because I wasn't taking it seriously. I think many of us regret how they handled it back then. I certainly do.
10
PaulSarlo May 7, 2026 +25
of course not. the pandemic started when a bunch of the passengers got on planes.
25
czs5056 May 7, 2026 +22
Until it hits the US and the regime works to supress the news
22
JvKvL May 7, 2026 +6
Already has
6
Banana-phone15 May 7, 2026 +185
UN and WHO said the same thing about Covid before it became pandemic
185
mrdude05 May 7, 2026 +168
The also said the same thing about Ebola, H5N1, and a bunch of other diseases that never became pandemics. This isn't a highly virulent novel virus that was let spread unchecked in dense urban areas for weeks/months before it was identified. This is an endemic virus with a known transmission vector that was spread by one specific carrier who has been identified. Unless this is a completely new strain of the virus there's little to no risk of it becoming a pandemic.
168
conanap May 8, 2026 +6
Idk dude H5N1 and SARS got pretty wild when I lived in HK. Seems like it wasn’t much of an issue in the western world tho.
6
DawnB17 May 7, 2026 +93
To be fair, compared to this, we knew practically nothing about Covid until it became the most pressing issue of the time. Covid actually radically changed our understanding of how airborne illnesses are transmitted, and what we didn't know at the time is part of what allowed Covid to spread so badly. On the other hand, we've been aware of Hantavirus (and the Andes strain) for decades, and have data from prior research and outbreaks to inform our handling of this one. That's not to say I'm not concerned at all, but despite any deja vu this is a *very* different situation.
93
hungariannastyboy May 7, 2026 +18
They have said this about more things that did not become pandemics.
18
Crede777 May 7, 2026 +14
They also said the same thing about the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak and were correct.
14
J0E_SpRaY May 7, 2026 +8
I guess that means this time must be untrue then. That’s how logic works apparently
8
CplKingShaw May 7, 2026 +9
Yet..
9
Doughtnutz May 7, 2026 +14
Just drink bleach, it'll be fine. /S
14
kissingdistopia May 7, 2026 +3
Let the sunshine inside your body.
3
jdylopa2 May 7, 2026 +24
I mean yeah, pandemic by definition only happens once it’s spread everywhere. You know, “pan” like the suffix meaning “all” or “every”. No pandemic is a pandemic when it starts. No one is saying this is a pandemic, but there is cause to be concerned that it could become one if actions aren’t taken to stop it from spreading everywhere.
24
nicuramar May 7, 2026 +9
Maybe reread the title.
9
Roma_Dee May 7, 2026 +27
We’ll see.
27
ninjahosk May 7, 2026 +10
Exactly what a pandemic would want us to think
10
Panino87 May 7, 2026 +3
ok but how bad is the disease? edit: also here in Europe they're saying there's already 1 contaminated person from the ship in Switzerland
3
kumgongkia May 8, 2026 +3
So it has started already. And no I don't believe this UN health agency.
3
Kemilio May 7, 2026 +13
“When they tell you not to panic, thats when you run” *-John Cusack in 2012*
13
FuFmeFitall May 7, 2026 +9
What about the Measles that is actually spreading? Nobody here care about that?
9
charitelle May 7, 2026 +15
All these people on the boat should have been isolated once they touched land. This is how pandemic starts. These humoungous boats shouldn,t even exist.
15
Reasonable-Link2475 May 7, 2026 +2
The poor travelers on cruise ships tho, when will they get a break?
2
Janymx May 7, 2026 +6
Sure, sure. The WHO is a weird thing. Didn't they say the same thing with covid? If so, there need to be some serious consequences if this one isn't true as well. This is a global health organisation. Sh*t like this can't just be said, when so many people trust in your word.
6
Deep-Friendship3181 May 8, 2026 +2
Luckily hantavirus is a virus that has been around forever. This particular strain doesn't transmit asymptomatically, the primary transmission vector is from rodent urine. Covid became a pandemic because it spread between people with no symptoms during the incubation period. With hantavirus you get sick before you are contagious, if you are ever contagious at all. This virus doesn't have the unknowns that SARS-CoV-2 had. It's a known commodity and we know how to deal with it, and how to isolate it in a way that was literally impossible with SARS-CoV-2.
2
Steffany_w0525 May 7, 2026 +5
They said this is not a COVID pandemic... obviously it's not a COVID pandemic...people are being infected with hantavirus...it's a hantavirus pandemic
5
According_Comedian69 May 7, 2026 +11
Very unlikely for this to be a pandemic. People need to stop worrying about this one.
11
Ognius May 7, 2026 +13
That’s the kind of behavior that starts a pandemic. God forbid we quarantine the people on the plague boat filled with a highly contagious and deadly virus. Nah let’s get em on planes in coach and send them all over the world.
13
nicuramar May 7, 2026 +7
> That’s the kind of behavior that starts a pandemic How? What do you want them to say “omg we’re all gonna die (even though we don’t think so)”
7
Dexmoser May 7, 2026 +15
Just found out 3 passengers from the ship are now in Canada. Can I panic now?
15
The_Gleam May 7, 2026 +31
Two of them made it back to Atlanta, GA, a massive hub in the southeast US. They havent shown signs that they are infected, yet incubation is up to two months... Yikes.
31
devilquak May 7, 2026 +8
It’s the 8 week incubation period that’s accelerating it as we speak, that’s gonna be the kicker. We’re going to slowly start finding these cases all over the place because it cooks for so long before coming out of the oven. Once we learn what the R number of the strain is, we’ll know how much we have to worry.
8
Anony-mommy May 7, 2026 +6
Delta be sweating
6
ArmandioFaria May 8, 2026 +2
Yeah, they’ve lied to us before
2
Rayl24 May 8, 2026 +2
Not the start............. because we all know you have to infect everyone before allowing symptoms to show otherwise Iceland is going to close their borders
2
Jurple-shirt May 8, 2026 +2
It's ok I took the horse dewarmer.
2
CumGuzlinGutterSluts May 9, 2026 +2
We haven't heard this before lol
2
Hync May 9, 2026 +2
No human to human transmission of Corona Virus - 2020 (WHO)
2
NoDumFucs May 7, 2026 +4
Easier to do door2door searches for the handmaids if we’re all quarantined at home again.
4
Affectionate_Neat868 May 7, 2026 +6
The WHO was saying as late as January of 2020 that there was "no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission" of COVID 19.
6
Deep-Friendship3181 May 8, 2026 +3
The difference is SARS-CoV-2 was a novel virus. We didn't have any idea what we were dealing with. Hantavirus is not novel. This strain is not novel. We know how transmission works, we know now its incubation works.
3
jimmysnukareddit May 7, 2026 +2
Listnook will be so disappointed...
2
paxweasley May 7, 2026 +5
And then we have people on the Internet ready to literally sink the boat with people on it, it’s disgusting. calling people entitled bc they want to be allowed off the boat and not made to die at sea abandoned. I actually saw someone make that augment today. F****** insane.
5
R3dscarf May 7, 2026 +12
I agree that sinking it is definitely stupid but we have to keep in mind that every potentially infected person (so basically ever person onboard) allowed to leave the ship could spread the virus to others. So until they can be properly accomodated a ship at sea is unfortunately the ideal containment method.
12
paxweasley May 7, 2026 +2
Yes, and to your point there’s a difference between delay the docking and quarantine them and bring them supplies and treatment (harsh, reasonable, wise, not evil) and “sink the ship! If they wish to live they are ENTITLED and bad people who actively wish death upon the rest of us. I’d I were on that ship I’d gladly die of starvation at sea!” Which is a completely batshit take that I have seen repeated a thousand times over the past 3 days in disturbing sincerity
2
R3dscarf May 7, 2026 +4
I agree, it's only natural to want off the ship asap even if it's objectively a bad idea. And I'm sure most if not all of the people you talk about would react similarly if their lives were on the line.
4
paxweasley May 7, 2026 +3
Oh for sure!! If I were on that boat I know for sure I’d be scared shitless, want to go home, and I \*hope\* I would emotionally accept the need for quarantine for up to 8+ weeks which is a very long time for that. I’ve just been astonished by the number of people I’ve seen fully advocating for killing everyone on board like…. Idk like they’re a bad batch of potatoes or something. It’s been a little chilling. I kinda thought the #1 sign of a civilization is the willingness to expend resources to save lives that are inconvenient to save.
3
hideao101 May 7, 2026 +4
Meh we had a hantavirus outbreak when I was in high school back in the 90s here in New Mexico and I think only a hand full died. It was mostly in rural areas where mice populations were intermingled with people like farms and ranches
4
IndigoRuby May 7, 2026 +28
I mean, I'm also not particularly worried but a person to person strain is a whole different kettle of fish than mouse poop to people. And easy to say meh to people dying when it's not you or your loved ones.
28
Thin-Usual-4359 May 7, 2026 +3
not yet they mean
3
furnesto May 7, 2026 +2
Im waiting for the man in comercials that followed something that was said so mundanely and casually and he clearly and loudly says".... yet!"
2
moonssk May 7, 2026 +2
My kid was asking about this, as the news had been playing in the background at home. Asked if we were going to have another lockdown. I just said we just have to wait and see, how this one pans out. If it’s harder to transmit it between humans, we might be ok.
2
Wolfman01a May 7, 2026 -2
We do not trust anyone after Covid. We wont trust WHO and we for DAMN SURE wont trust anyone in the American government either.
-2
Brandon_Maximo May 7, 2026 +16
So where would you get your updates about the unfolding virus situation then?
16
foundafreeusername May 7, 2026 +9
From all the experts on listnook of course.
9
foles17 May 7, 2026 +18
Yes, I too prefer the listnook comment section for my news
18
lookyloolookingatyou May 7, 2026
Sorry everyone, there isn’t going to be any bread baking or cozy quarantines. Nature isn’t going to get to heal and no one is cutting us a check. Just like no one is getting drafted for WW3 and Donald Trump isn’t going to die. We’re all going to keep being average people living average lives. Deal with it.
0
pikachuswayless May 7, 2026 +27
I feel like one of these things is actually guaranteed to happen.
27
Welshgirlie2 May 7, 2026 +4
And it's not a pandemic...and hopefully not WW3.
4
designforone May 7, 2026 +16
I love how you say this and yet here you are like the rest of us. Follow what you preach
16
doomsday1134 May 7, 2026
Nothings gonna happen, get back to work folks (If you have a job, that is).
0
Canashito May 7, 2026 +3
Lets give it 6 months max
3
cool_and_froody May 7, 2026 +1
Gonna stick with my policy of believing the exact opposite of what they tell me is true for this one chief.
1
GoochStubble May 7, 2026 +3
Great reason to re-up your covid masking and precautions. If youre wrong about hantavirus spreading seriously, you still helped curb flu and covid and norovirus spread
3
Interesting-Type-908 May 7, 2026 -1
**BULLSHIT**
-1
phillyunk May 7, 2026 +58
THIS GUYS INFECTED! He’s coughing everywhere!
58
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